A pair of rescued albatrosses swim in a holding pool at the International Bird Rescue Los Angeles facility in San Pedro on Thursday, April 02, 2015. The albatrosses were found separately last month. One was found trapped between containers on a cargo ship and the other was found in Rancho Mirage. After leg banding and an exam, the pair were set to be released from a boat just outside of the L.A. Harbor. (Scott Varley / Daily Breeze)

Kelly Berry puts an ID leg band on one of two rescued albatross at the International Bird Rescue Los Angeles in San Pedro, CA on Thursday, April 02, 2015. (Scott Varley / Daily Breeze)

They were rescued separately, one trapped between cargo containers on a ship into Long Beach, the other in the middle of the desert, but two rare albatrosses were released together Thursday afternoon in the ocean off San Pedro.

With their striking gray and black eyes against a snow-white head and enormous wingspan, Laysan albatrosses are a sight to behold, if one is lucky enough to see one. The rare seabirds typically settle on remote islands in the North Pacific. But over the past couple of weeks, the adult birds have been gliding across a small pool at the International Bird Rescue Center in San Pedro, awaiting the OK for their release.

The bird rescued March 21 from the Port of Long Beach was drenched in grease and cleaned by center staff, but otherwise healthy. The man who found the bird estimated that it had been stuck between the cargo containers for up to 10 days.

The other bird was found March 20 near a construction site in the desert city of Rancho Mirage, 100 miles from the Pacific Ocean.

“He got marooned in the desert, literally,” said Julie Skoglund, the center’s operations manager. “Albatrosses need wind and a runway to take off.”

The birds’ presence is a rarity for center staff.

“Usually, we see one a year, but to have two at the same time is pretty incredible,” Skoglund said.

Before their release from a lifeguard boat off Cabrillo Beach, the birds needed one last inspection. Skoglund and center manager Kelly Berry examined the birds’ beaks, wingspan and bodies and ensured their feathers were waterproof. They drew each bird’s blood with a tiny needle as the albatrosses squirmed in their arms.

Albatrosses are known for their wingspan, which can spread up to 61/2 feet. On a single feeding trip, the bird can fly from the Hawaiian Islands to Alaska and back, thanks to a locking mechanism in their wing. With their wings locked in place and the wind propelling them, they can soar without expending any calories at all, Skoglund said.

The birds also are known for their long lifespan. The oldest known wild bird in the United States, Wisdom, is a Laysan albatross who is 62 years old and still having babies, staff members said. She was banded by a researcher in 1956.

The albatrosses released in San Pedro on Thursday also received permanent metal bands around their legs so they can be tracked by researchers who stumble upon them.

The staffers hope they don’t end up right back where they started from. Albatrosses are frequent stowaways on container ships that travel the ocean highways. They are often spotted resting or building nests on the vessels since they consider the flat surface of the ship a perfect nesting island during breeding season, staff said.

While the other bird’s rescue from the desert might seem shocking, staffers said the bird was discovered south of the Salton Sea, which offers a multitude of fish, making for an easy catch.

“It’s a destination spot for these seabirds,” Skoglund said.

As the birds awaited their rescue boat, they paddled their feet around the pool, flapping their wings, occasionally clapping their beaks together and mooing at each other.